The Dude Ranchers Association is a

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. An industry tra ...

for promoting and standardizing

dude ranch A guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism. History Guest ranches arose in response to the romanticization of the American West that began to occur ...

es in North America. It was founded in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

, in 1926. The association works to preserve the qualities of isolation, remoteness, and unmodified nature in wilderness areas and national forests to sell the dude ranch vacation as the only true American vacation where guests can experience a working ranch in conditions that simulate the American frontier experience.

History

As the railroads expanded, dude ranches appeared across the west and the southwest in the 1920s. In 1926, Ernest Miller of Elkhorn Ranch in Montana and Max Goodsill of the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

recognized an opportunity for a mutually beneficial relationship. Goodsill passed the idea along to A. B. Smith, passenger traffic manager for Northern Pacific, who arranged a meeting at the Bozeman Hotel. This became the first official meeting of the association September 27–28, 1926. Ranchers, railroad officials, and national park officials attended the two-day event to discuss the five objectives: * cooperation among ranchers and railroad officials * transportation and proper care of guests * advertising and publicity for the association * how to standardize practices * create an efficient sales organization Later, the ranchers added a sixth objective: the organized protection of fish and game.

Larry Larom Irving Hastings Larom, known as Larry Larom (June 3, 1889 – December 23, 1973), was the founding president of the Dude Ranchers Association and an owner of the former Valley Ranch near Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming. Backgrou ...

of Valley Ranch was instrumental in starting the organization and became the organization's first president. Ernest Miller was named secretary-treasurer. Twenty-six ranches were charter members in 1926; it grew to 47 the second year. Today, the Dude Ranchers Association has over 100 ranch members and over 150 affiliated members.

References

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External links

Dude Ranchers Association

Dude Ranchers Association Records
(University of Montana Archives)
Dude Ranchers Association Papers, 1926-2002
at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

American Heritage Center The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West (including politics, settlement, and western trails) and ...

Trade associations based in the United States Organizations established in 1926 Ranches